Pregame: Rangers Push for Five Straight Against Isles

With a four-game winning streak on the line, the eighth place New York Rangers will be hosting the Islanders tonight at Madison Square Garden for the fourth meeting between the rivals this season. The Blueshirts, who are 5-3-2 in their last ten games, came out completely flat against the Isles the last time the two clashed at MSG, but since then the team has went 4-0-0. Since falling 5-2 to the Rangers two weeks ago, the Islanders have struggled, going 3-7-0 in their last ten. However, they are coming off of a big win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

I am not expecting any changes in the lineup, which means we will see the same roster we saw in Wednesday’s 4-1 victory against the Florida Panthers. That leaves forwards Aaron Voros and Erik Christensen as the healthy scratches. I am actually a little surprised Boyle was re-entered into the lineup after being injured last week, but that is the way it will be in the contest.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Anisimov - Callahan
Avery - Drury - Lisin
Brashear - Boyle - Kotalik

Del Zotto - Girardi
Staal - Rozsival
Redden - Gilroy

Henrik Lundqvist

Scratches: Aaron Voros, Erik Christensen

Henrik Lundqvist (did you expect anyone else?) will be in net for the Rangers after allowing just five goals in his last four games. What you have seen over the past couple of weeks has been Lundqvist at his best—all-star caliber goaltending. The guy has been amazing night in and night out and is arguably the number one reason this team has been victorious in four straight.

John Tortorella made some defensive changes for Wednesday’s match-up, but in today’s morning skate he went back to the original pairings. That sees Staal with Rozsival, Redden with Gilroy, and Del Zotto with Girardi. For the first time in quite a while, the Rangers blueline played a full 60-minute game against the Panthers, keeping Florida to the outside as often as possible. Sure there were the occasional mistakes, but far less than what we are used to seeing.

I really liked what I saw from the Avery - Drury - Lisin line against the Panthers. The forecheck was great, they skated very well, and the effort was infinite. While Lisin may not be one of the most defensively responsible wingers, Drury is one of the best backcheckers on the team so it sort of makes up for what Lisin lacks. As far as speed goes, Lisin was all over the place, outskating the Cats on every shift. Tortorella rewarded him with a bit more ice time than he is used to because of the way the Russian youngster played.

Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal also began to show some chemistry with Brandon Dubinsky for the first time since being reunited last week. If that trio can really get going, which is an easy task with Gaborik involved, they can become a dominate first line for the Rangers. Dubinsky is an underrated passer in my opinion, and can find the open lanes as we saw with one of Prospal’s two goals last game. That could surely help out Gaborik in the long-run, taking some pressure off of his shoulders and not having to do everything.

Islanders Projected Lineup

Moulson - Tavares - Comeau
Bailey - Nielsen - Okposo
Sim - Schremp - Hunter
Jackman - Park - Thompson

Streit - Meyer
Sutton - Hillen
Witt - MacDonald

Roloson

We are now well aware that the Rangers need to get off to a quick start in this tilt because if they don’t, we could potentially see a pathetic effort like we did the last time these two met at the Garden. The Islanders will be looking for that fast start yet again, but instead of weathering the storm, the Blueshirts have to come out with some energy of their own. If they can get the early goal and the home crowd on their side, they will be in good shape as the game goes on. Also, the Rangers Tribune will be in attendance tonight, so the postgame analysis may be up a bit later than usual.
(Images courtesy of AP Photo)